Virtually Yours

by Sarvenaz Tash

“Witty and insightful…at once utterly contemporary and totally timeless.” —Samira Ahmed, New York Times bestselling author of Love, Hate & Other Filters and Internment

Modern love plus online anonymity is a recipe for romantic disaster in this lighthearted new romance from the author of The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love.

How bad can one little virtual lie be?

NYU freshman Mariam Vakilian hasn’t dated anyone in five months, not since her high school sweetheart Caleb broke up with her. So, when she decides to take advantage of an expiring coupon and try out a new virtual reality dating service, it’s sort of a big deal.

It’s an even bigger deal when it chooses as one of her three matches none other than Caleb himself. That has to be a sign, right?

Except that her other match, Jeremy, just happens to be her new best friend IRL.

Mariam’s heart is telling her one thing, but the app is telling her another. So, which should she trust? Is all fair in modern love?

• ISBN10: 1534436677
• ISBN13: 9781534436671
• Publish Date: 6 August 2020 (first published 4 June 2019)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 4 October 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Mariam had NOT been making the most of her freshman year of college. This was a time for her to try new things, meet new people, and start looking towards her future. But, she was doing none of that. Instead, Mariam was floating in and out of each day, missing opportunities, as she nursed her broken heart. With encouragement from her roommate, she signed up for a virtual reality dating service, which just so happened to match her with the source of her heartache - her ex, Caleb. Seeing it as sign from the universe, Mariam embarked on a virtual relationship with Caleb using a false persona. Though she saw this as a second chance with Caleb, it may really have been her chance to find herself.

People are clamoring for more books like this. Books set in college, where the focus is more on the adjustment from high school to college. Tash gave me that and so much more with this book.

Mariam may have been young, but she was definitely going through a sort of identity crisis. She spent the last three years being part of a couple. She had lost some friends over those three years, and made many things in her life secondary to her boyfriend. It was not a quick process, and watching Mariam navigate her emotions and self-discoveries was sometimes frustrating, but I was truly happy about all the progress she made.

Once she started seeing things in a different light and stopped clinging to her past, she found a fabulous group of friends. Hedy, Geneviève, and Jeremy were all very special, and brought something wonderful to Mariam's life. I loved all the movie watching, coffee drinking, and reality show based conversations they shared. But, they also shared some really meaningful moments, which paved the way for Mariam's journey.

This book was on the lighter side, but I won't pretend that there weren't some really emotional moments in there. There were a few of Mariam's big a-has, that were accompanied by my tears. Some were happy tears and some were sad tears, but all were important moments I was glad to share with Mariam.

And the ending! That ending left me like


Overall: This was a heartwarming, hilarious, and honest tale of one young woman's journey to rediscover herself, which was entertaining and throughly enjoyable.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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